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i think what slimm said is right...carradine plays too upright a lot and loses leverage battles...he got moved off the ball a lot against florida in what i saw...but with better technique that upside is tremendous...i think after watching a lot of both him and woerner the upside lies with carradine...woerner strikes me as more a finished product...and i wonder if he has enough burst as a 3 down de to give you double digit sacks on a consistent basis...i think woerner looks great initially off the ball or has a plus get off but i see a tendency to lose luster as the play develops after that initial get off...and if the plays away from him that kid will straight stop trying as far as pursuit is concerned...but he's stout against the run and he's got strength in his hands...

i don't think you'd talk me into a top 10 pick though with woerner i don't see the explosive pass rush upside and physical tools to warrant it...i think he'll be a solid pro just not sure that he'll be a high end pass rusher

Re: Senior DE Cornellius "Tank" Carradine torn ACL

Originally Posted by hooshoops

i think what slimm said is right...carradine plays too upright a lot and loses leverage battles...he got moved off the ball a lot against florida in what i saw...but with better technique that upside is tremendous...i think after watching a lot of both him and woerner the upside lies with carradine...woerner strikes me as more a finished product...and i wonder if he has enough burst as a 3 down de to give you double digit sacks on a consistent basis...i think woerner looks great initially off the ball or has a plus get off but i see a tendency to lose luster as the play develops after that initial get off...and if the plays away from him that kid will straight stop trying as far as pursuit is concerned...but he's stout against the run and he's got strength in his hands...

i don't think you'd talk me into a top 10 pick though with woerner i don't see the explosive pass rush upside and physical tools to warrant it...i think he'll be a solid pro just not sure that he'll be a high end pass rusher

The thing about Werner that intrigues me is that he hasn't played football all that long. He could have a lot of upside hidden in inexperience.

I agree that Carradine's ceiling looks higher. He has this amazing ability to keep blockers off him while he waits for the right moment to strike. I likened him to a mongoose in another thread and I think it's apt. In the game at the weekend, he was often right there with Werner when he made the sack or pressure. Because his technique is not predicated on brute strength so much as timing and great hands (though he clearly is very strong) he may arrive at the scene of the crime a fraction behind a guy who's bull rushing and getting headway against his blocker. Not to demean Werner, that kid is relentless, but Carradine has a different skillet that will translate very well to the NFL, IMO. I hope the ACL doesn't affect his elusiveness or burst. He's still worth pursuing, IMO.

Truthfully, Bjoern has been playing football since he was 13 or 14 years old. He played with a club in Berlin, beating up a bunch of players that were much older than him, and then found an offshoot NFL program that gives scholarships to kids around the globe to come to the US and play prep football when he was around 17 years old. I think it's a little bit of a myth that he's not been playing football very long because truly unless you're a quarterback then if you've been playing since you were 13 or 14 then you've been playing as long as anyone else just about. The most impressive thing about his background and "lack" of experience really is just the fact that as a 16 year old kid he went out and created his own NFL future. He did everything himself. His Berlin coach merely suggested that he should go to the states and play football, he didn't do anything for him. Bjoern went out, found the program that gives scholarships, applied himself, got in touch with prep school coaches and secured his spot in a prep school, and made sure he could pay for everything himself...and THEN he presented the idea to his parents, who were mainly concerned that they didn't have the money for all of it. He assured them he had all that taken care of and all they've had to pay I believe was for his plane ticket. Some time later, he married his high school sweetheart from Germany.

The whole back story is the kind of thing NFL coaches and scouts eat up. He's been acting like an adult far before the time when other guys start acting like an adult (if ever).

Yes, a lot more kids than you think have played high school football in Germany before coming over the U.S. to attend college. I remember when Eric Zeier came to Georgia after playing high school football in Germany where his parents were stationed.